A scent of olive oil fills this elegant, well cared-for production facility where time-honoured knowledge and modern technology are combined to provide the consumer with faultless quality and nutritional security.
The mill is a modern plant run with cutting-edge equipment but also deep-rooted traditions. All the metal equipment is stainless steel, and the disks of the presses, the so-called "fiscoli" made of polypropylene, to avoid the onset of fermentation or oxidation, are completely replaced a number of times during a given production season.
The difficult path of renewing the facility, but without abandoning the traditional production methods, was endorsed by the entire Gabrielloni, seeing that it represents the secret to ensuring that their prized olive oil is never less than perfect, but such an approach calls for constant attention and consummate skill.
The system used to mill the olives gives the olive oil distinctive, unmatched qualities, but the traditional process, more than any other type of production facility, calls for an artisan’s experience and in-depth knowledge of olive oil manufacturing in order to turn out the top-flight final product. Note: traditional process doesn't mean extraction but squeezing out.
From the tree to the mill in just a few hours
The hand-picked olives reach the mill fresh. Carefully selected, stripped of their leaves and washed, the olives are ground by enormous granite millstones. Each stage of the production process is carried out cold, with the resulting paste compacted in the grinding device and then spread uniformly on disks ("fiscoli") positioned one on top of the other inside specially designed dollies that are placed under a press capable of applying up to 360 atmospheres of pressure.
No fewer than 4 presses are used at the Gabrielloni mill, making for a processing potential of 10,000 kg a day. The olive must collected in tubs is sent to a device that separates the vegetation water from the oil. At this point, the raw product is filtered drop by drop through cotton batting, in order to eliminate any suspended residue.
The result is a clear green olive oil without any impurities, destined to keep its scent and qualities unchanged over time. Once it has been bottled or placed in steel storage containers, it is kept in a cool, climate-controlled room where the temperature stays constant throughout the year, ensuring that the olive oil remains unaltered by heat or cold.
A specially designed nitrogen system installed on all the containers protects from oxidation.
Timing is of critical importance at the mill, in order to avoid delays and preserve all the quality features of the freshly processed olives. If added time elapses between the harvesting and processing of the olives, then mould and fermentation can damage the olive oil or leave it with defects.
Optimal timing makes possible the production of extra-virgin olive oil with a low level of acidity, a rich stock of anti-oxidants and other beneficial substances, plus an excellent scent and taste.
The Gabrielloni mill is a one-of-its-kind olive-oil shop, with visitors being warmly welcomed throughout the year.
Courses in olive-oil tasting are held, along with visits to the company’s facilities and the surrounding territory, plus guided tasting sessions of Gabrielloni products and delicacies of regional cuisine, as well as walks through the olive groves, bringing together olive growers, gourmets, aficionados and friends.